Friday, February 01, 2008

My Weekend Crush

Oh the delicious idiosyncrasy that is Jenny Schecter. Jenny is both the most infuriating and infatuating character in Ilene Chaiken’s little lesboverse. She is crazy as all get out, yet you just can’t stop watching her. And you just can’t stop watching her because you just can’t stop watching Mia Kirshner. Sure almost everything Jenny does is either insane, destructive or megalomaniacal -- often all at the same time. But Mia makes even the most nonsensical stuff work. And, I swear, she gets more gorgeous with each passing season.

Outside of the L Word, Hollywood has tended to cast Mia as the doomed sexpot. But she is capable of so much more. I knew it the first time I saw her, some 14 years ago, in “Exotica.” To say she made an impression would be an understatement, and I’m not just talking about her Catholic school girl uniform. Not that it hurt, either. Mia is an actress who can smolder, but underneath all the sexiness is something more. Most beautiful women have an openness about them that invites and welcomes admiration. Mia is a beautiful woman whose enigmatic nature draws us to her like a puzzle, instead.

Without Mia, we could have never stomached Jenny for five seasons. She would have turned into a cardboard villainess or pointless nutjob. But with Mia we always feel that maybe, possibly, if Mama Chaiken will allow it, Jenny will one day be redeemed. Happy weekend, all.

100% agree with you. Mia Kirschner is an amazing actress and now that Jenny's character has evolved into this über the top monster of megalomania, she's so incredibly fun to watch. And beautiful too. I think that the people who just hate the Jenny character are missing out on much laughter.

ITA! Mia's always had it, even when the character of Jenny made fingernails on a blackboard preferable. Now that they've struck the right tone with crazyJennyx1000, it's just a lot of fun to see her in action.

She also plays off other characters well, esp. LuH and KM. And thinking of the "Monet" call with LeH last season still cracks me up.

I agree that MK has exhibited tremendous growth as an actress over the 4+ seasons of TLW. She is more beautiful this season than ever before. She is voluptuous and womanly, far from chubby or thick, just juicy and delectable. She has perfected bat-shit crazy Jenny to a tee while delivering her lines in a pitch-perfect way. In this latest episode (4) of TLW, she is telling Aaron and Tina why she does not want to hire Nikki to portray Jenny on screen. She says, in order to show that the actress doesn't have the intellect or depth to portray Jenny, that the last book Nikki has read was ten years ago when Nikki read (I think I messed up the title) "Hello God, This is Margaret". She was sublime. Even Jennifer Beals, has given major props to Mia in this role.

I disagree, I think MK is a very, very overrated actress. Sure she's good looking, which is a huge advantage for her in her career, but I don't think she has the qualities or talents of great actresses a la Meryl Streep, Kate Winslet or Cate Blanchett. I even think Naomi Watts is more talented than MK, and I don't even like Naomi Watts that much, but I respected her performance in 'The Painted Veil'.

I'd like to know how well MK will do as an actress when she's no longer considered "fuckable" by TPTB in Hollywood.

^-^ me too! whenever i tell people Jenny is my favorite character on this show.. it never fails.. the person i'm speaking to responds with a half smile and then follows it up with "you're kidding. right?" when i assure them i'm not kidding, i then receive the "i don't think i really know you" look. love Jenny forever. and i especially love the new gum spitting Jenny. :) and i agree that Mia is really fun to watch. i loved her small gig on 24 too! deadly.

I actually never really minded Jenny in S1 through 4.5. She wasn't my fave, but I didn't think she was the she-devil that many thought she was. Now I find her intolerable with her superiority complex. Possibly b/c I know people w/ superiority complexes and I just don't find them funny in any way.

As for Mia herself, I think she's a fine actress, however I don't really get all the "genius" and "brilliant" adjectives that get thrown at her. She's a good actress, but that's about as far as it goes with me.

Anyone who has followed any of my comments regarding Mia would confirm that your summation is exactly what I've been echoing all of AE from day 1.

I could not agree with you more. Mia has a subtle beauty about her that could easily put her in the same category of those actresses of yore who has a certain regality about them. In her case, it's ever so subtle but at the same time is so evident.

Holy moly! Exotica was released 14 years ago? I'm officially OLD. I loved that movie, and I loved Mia in that role, but I still can't find much love for Jenny. I have to agree with others here who've said she's not the finest acting talent around. I do, however, applaud her ability to show up for work each week knowing that her script is going to say something like, "Jenny is an annoying bitch" every single time!

I don't know if she's the greatest thing since sliced bread or not, but I have enjoyed Mia Kirshner on The L Word. I give her tons of credit for toughing it out through all the weird stuff that Ilene Chaiken and friends have put her character through. I'm particular liking Crazy Funny Jenny this season.